A pair of lawmakers in California are in search of to ban legislation enforcement officers within the state from carrying face coverings, amid protests in Los Angeles towards the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
State Sens. Scott Wiener and Jesse Arreguin — Democratic lawmakers from San Francisco and Oakland, respectively — introduced Monday that they might be submitting SB 627 to ban native, state and federal legislation enforcement from overlaying their faces when interacting with the general public.
The laws, dubbed the No Secret Police Act, would additionally require legislation enforcement officers to put on figuring out data, Wiener wrote in a post on X.
“Secret police conduct tanks belief & should finish,” Wiener wrote.
Throughout a press convention exterior San Francisco Metropolis Corridor on Monday, Wiener stated that “secret police” had been “grabbing” folks off the road, Fox San Francisco affiliate KTVU reported.
Exemptions to the invoice would come with SWAT groups and officers who put on medical masks throughout pure disasters, equivalent to wildfires, the lawmakers stated. Clear riot gear would even be permitted, since they’re see-through.
The invoice intends to make sure transparency and accountability for legislation enforcement in addition to shield them and the general public from potential impersonators, Arreguin stated.
The proposed laws comes amid a number of days of protests in Los Angeles over the Trump administration’s immigration insurance policies. The protests prompted President Donald Trump deploy National Guard troops with out the consent of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Police escort a protester as tear fuel surrounds folks throughout a protest, June 14, 2025, in Los Angeles.
Ethan Swope/AP
The Los Angeles Police Division made zero arrests on Sunday evening, the primary day with no arrests since the protests broke out on June 6.
Wiener referenced the immigration raids below the Trump administration when introducing the invoice, The San Francisco Standard reported.
“The latest federal operations in California have created an surroundings of profound terror,” Wiener stated, in line with the native publication. “If we would like the general public to belief legislation enforcement, we can’t enable them to behave like secret police in an authoritarian state.”
